UPDATE 8/11/2012 – Body found has been Positively identified as Mickey Shunick. Her decomposed remains were found Tuesday near a cemetery off of Louisiana Highway 10 in Evangeline Parish.

Cpl. Paul Mouton, a police spokesman, said a “credible witness” led them to the spot, but would not say if that witness was in fact Brandon Lavergne, who had already been charged with 1st degree murder in Mickey’s case and another homicide case. An inmate custody form shows that he was checked out of the Lafayette Parish Correctional Center at 6:40 a.m. Tuesday and taken across the street to the sheriff’s department. He was checked back in around 3:30 p.m. Tuesday, said sheriff’s Capt. Kip Judice.

Mickey, the missing University of Louisiana student who disappeared while bicycling in May 2012 was found deceased. Authorities found the body Tuesday (August 7th 2012), buried near a small, private cemetery off state Highway 10 in rural Evangeline Parish. The young womans disappearance made national headlines for months and many people in the community, along with Police, friends and family made many efforts to search for her, to no avail. Mickey wasn’t the type to run off and many suspected foul play almost immediately.

Although the body hasn’t been positively identified as the missing student, police strongly believe it is that of Michaela ”Mickey” Shunick.

“We are out here processing the scene,” Stated Mouton, A Police Officer who was there when Mickey’s body was found. He also stated. “We still have to positively identify the body [but] we believe strongly it probably is Michaela.”

Mouton said investigators received “credible information” from a source this morning that led them to the site. Forensic experts from LSU are on the scene assisting law enforcement in the recovery of the body.

They are in the process of carefully digging up the grave and recovering any evidence that might be there. Investigators would not comment on the condition of the body but said they believe it is a homicide.

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Mickey Shunick, was a 21-year-old senior anthropology major. She was last seen alive May 19th 2012, when she left a friend’s home on Ryan Street in Lafayette. Shunick was riding her bicycle to her home on Governor Miro Drive, which was approx 4 miles away, when she vanished.

Back in May, Mickey’s mother, Nancy Shunick, stated she was very fearful that something terrible has happened, “I think that someone saw the opportunity and grabbed her,” she said. “She does carry pepper spray, but someone might have overpowered her.”. A few days later, a fishermen found Mickey’s black, Schwinn Madison, fixed-gear bicycle in a swampy area of the Atchafalaya Basin, about 25 miles from where the college student was last seen.

Law Enforcement received a tip leading them to Brandon Scott Lavergne, a 33-year-old registered sex offender. On July 5th, 2012, He was charged with first degree murder and aggravated kidnapping in Mickey’s case. On July 18th 2012, he was indicted for the first-degree murder of Lisa Ann Pate, a 33-year-old woman who disappeared from Lafayette Parish in July 1999 and was later found dead near Church Point. Lavergne has pleaded ”Not Guilty” to both cases, if convicted, Lavergne could possibly face the death penalty.

The family of Michaela Shunick released a statement Thursday, two days after her body was found. The statement reads – “We ask that you please respect the Shunick family by allowing them the privacy they need at this time,” the statement reads. “It has been, and still is, a long journey in the search to find Mickey, so we truly feel that they deserve some time alone.”